T. Coraghessan Boyle discusses three of his books, “Greasy Lake & Other Stories,” “Water Music,” and “Budding Prospects: A Pastoral.” In “Greasy Lake & Other Stories,” Boyle asks what would it have been like if Dwight D. Eisenhower had a...

John Sacret Young discusses a book he contributed to, “Doing It For Money.” He begins by talking about how the book was created by the Writer’s Guild Foundation. The Writer’s Guild asked over 100 Hollywood writers to talk about their beginning...

Kathie Fong Yoneda discusses her book, “The Script-Selling Game.” She begins by explaining the importance of having a short concise summary of a script, so it can be pitched easily and quickly. She talks about her position as the Director of...

T.C. Boyle discusses his book, “East is East.” He describes the young protagonist, Hiro Tanaka, an outcast whose mother is Japanese and father is an American hippie. Boyle goes on to discuss the storyline of the book, set at a writer’s colony in...

Ray Bradbury discusses his collection of short stories entitled, "Bradbury Stories." He begins by explaining that he chose the one-hundred stories in the collection with the help of his editors because he has such an extensive collection of work....

Ray Bradbury discusses his book, "From the Dust Returned" He begins by explaining the plot of the book and how many of his books and plays begin as short stories. He goes on to discuss his writing process and his belief that writer's block is the...

Ray Bradbury discusses his book, "Death Is A Lonely Business." He begins by explaining the plot of the book and how he drew on his experiences living in Venice during the early years of his career. He stresses the importance of a proper setting...

Octavia Butler discusses her book, “Fledgling.” Butler describes the character, Shori, and says that Shori is a vampire child that establishes symbiont relationships with others. She says she began writing the novel after having writer’s block...

Ray Shannon discusses his novel, “Man Eater.” He begins by explaining how his real name is Gar Anthony Haywood, but he decided to write this book under an alias so his readers wouldn’t get confused. He says the book is about a gangster who gets...

Thomas B. Sawyer discusses his book, “Plots Unlimited: For the Writer of Novels, Short Stories, Plays, Screenplays, and Television Episodes: A Creative Source for Generating a Virtually Limitless Number and Variety of Story Plots and Outlines.” He...

Merrill Joan Gerber discusses her book, “Old Mother, Little Cat: A Writer’s Reflection on Her Kitten, Her Aged Mother… and Life.” She begins by explaining that she often writes stories about her family that are both fact and fiction. She...

Ray Bradbury discusses his book, “Let’s All Kill Constance." He explains that the plot is set in 1960s Los Angeles and follows an unnamed writer who serves as the novel’s narrator. The mystery begins with a visit from an aging Hollywood actress...

Walter and Connie begin the interview discussing the nature of sin and his desire to write about how sin differs from place to place as means of understanding the moral decisions the “everyman” makes everyday. Walter also highlights the influence...

Eric begins the interview discussing his success as a Hollywood writer and producer and especially his work adapting James Carvell’s Shogun to television. In particular, Eric covers the process he uses when writing scripts based novels. He also...

Jimmy Breslin discusses his novel, “Damon Runyon.” He begins by explaining that the book is a non-fiction account of the life of writer Damon Runyon. Breslin talks about following Runyon’s paper trails all over the country and interviewing many...

Phil Doran discusses his book, “The Reluctant Tuscan.” He begins by explaining how one day he was surprised by a call from his wife who informed him that she had bought a house in Italy. At the time he was working in Hollywood as a writer, for...

Tom Nolan discusses his book, “Ross MacDonald: A Biography.” He begins by explaining why he wrote on Ross Macdonald, the pen name of writer Ken Millar. He talks about Macdonald’s early life growing up with an abusive family. He describes how...

Robert McKee discusses his book, “Story.” He begins by explaining how he is a screenwriter and professor, and how his students have won numerous Academy Awards, Golden Globe awards, and Emmy awards for their writings. He says that a writer needs...

Nicole Krauss discusses her book, “The History of Love.” She begins by explaining the concept of the book, which is that all the characters in the book are inter-connected and forever changed by having read the same book, “The History of Love.” She...

Judith Freeman discusses her novel, “The Long Embrace.” She begins by explaining that she read a lot of Raymond Chandler’s work in the 1980s and was fascinated by his life. She talks about Chandler’s move to Los Angeles and how he meets his wife...